One of the best things to do when the sun is shinning and you have a free day is going to the forest and prepare a tasty BBQ. In the area of Szczecin there are many great places to practice this hobby, but one of my favourites is the Glebokie lake area. This lake is located at the end of Wolska Poslkiego street, and you can reach the place easily by tram, bus, or my favourite, by bike. Of course you can always use the car, but then you should be careful with the beers during the BBQ, just 0,0% alcohol then. There is a small artificial beach with water chute, pedal boats, and other water sports facilities. Many people during summer are taking sunbaths there. The lake is surrounded by forest with many paths for walking, jogging or ride the bicycles. For lazy guys who don’t want to cook there are some restaurants around the lake. But the best thing is to use one of the picnic areas inside the forest with BBQ and all the necessary facilities. The day starts going to the supermarket to buy staff for the BBQ. Better if you can persuade a friend, wife or somebody else to take the stuff to there. Then you are free to take the bike, go around the area and make some sport and sightseeingg. After some sweating is time for the delicious BBQ with an iced Bosman beer. After the lunch some chatting with friends, play with children, and finally go home after a nice summer day in the city. 

Dreaming of long conversations, great atmosphere, and trendy people? Then Public cafe could offer what you are looking for. During weekdays lots of students and young professionals use the free WI-FI connection available to check email, update twitter, or just surf the web while they have a cafe or a beer. The inside is intimate and cosy with some leather sofas, and many standard wood tables and chairs.

There is something about this place that makes it unique, from an intimate tete-a-tete to groups, you can always find comfortable. During the weekends is almost always crowded, so better call for reservation if you want to have dinner there. The background music is great for chatting or relaxing, chill out and this kind of staff.

The food is not outstanding, basically pizzas, salads and pasta, but is good enough for a fast dinner or lunch, and the quality is quite good. Food is reasonably priced usually around 20 zlotys per dish. Like everywhere in Szczecin you can find a vast range of beers, but also wine is popular in this place. There is a blackboard with the wines selection of the day, usually Spanish and Italian wines, and worth a try.

Public cafe is located in  Jednosci Narodowe Street close to Plac Grundwaldzki, a very convenient place in Szczecin.

Last word: Public Cafe is notable for its wonderful atmosphere. Trendy and always crowded is the perfect place to chat with friends, or relax after a hard day working or studying. Wine selections from the best guarantee of origin complete is offer.

Now when the summer is approaching, One of the best weekend breaks is going to the beach. There are many possibilities near Szczecin, but one of my favorites is Swinoujscie. Most of the city was destroyed by heavy bombing during the war but still you can find great Art Nouveau buildings restored, and many other brand new copying the same stile. The tourist part of the city is growing fast and every year the promenade is bigger and has more restaurants, shops, ice-cream shops, and cafes. But the best thing of Swinoujscie is the beach. A long, great and bright beach where you can go with friends or family and have a nice day. Even now, after the schengen agreement you can go walking to the German side of the beach. As I always say, I love to go for a walk, so this beach is for me like a paradise on earth. The only thing that I didn’t liked of Swinoujscie in the past was to drive from Szcsecin. There were many traffic jams, specially because you must cross the river channel using a ferry, and sometimes during the summer you must way an hour or more to get into it. But this year ther is a new service, the Wodolot Bosman Express. It is a fast boat in which you can go from Szczecin to Swinoujscie in just 75 minutes while you drink a Bosman beer or read a book or newspaper. The experience is rally nice, and comfortable. The boats leaves you at the docks, 10 minutes walking to the beach, but for lazy guys or people with small children there is a small tractor train available.  Also Szczecins Lake and Oder sightseeing definitely worth a trip on the Wodolot.

Some days ago I posted about the floating garden project , the idea as I said seems to be nice. But last weekend I decided to take a short trip through the Oder using the boats available in the harbour. I’ve been inside the harbour facilities many times, but never around the shipyards. The view is decadent, some of the shipyards still looks good and working, but there are some abandoned. The old dikes, the rust, unfinished ships, etc, makes the place a perfect example of ugly industrial decay. As you can see in the photos restoration or cleaning will be quite a task. Also the Oder water does not seem fresh and clean at all, and I’m afraid the chemical industry in Police, the harbour, and the shipyards don’t help much on it. But the surrounding area is nice, and definitely deserves some chance to be restored. When I first show the Logo and read year 2050 I thought it was too much time, but after this small trip I have realised that this time it is really needed.

A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about the stressful time and the difficulties of my first days in Szczecin. After almost two years in the city, I have developed a good Szcsecin knowledge. So why not create a blog about szczecin to share my daily livings?. So my first post will be about the brand new Szczecin 2050 Floating garden. In fact I think it is a great idea to switch from a post-Industrial city to a new green and blue one. Also the Logo is quite nice, even the idea of simplifying the spelling is really well thinked. When some of my friends, or family, came to visit me they always complain about the first szcz. It is common to hear a visitor say “Hey, How the hell I will tell my friends where I’ve been?, It is impossible to read this name”.

But, in my opinion, there is something missing. Somehow, the Logo should emphasise the cultural side of the city. The new Philharmonic is on the way, the theaters, the musicians, all the cultural richness spreading in Szczecin should be integrated in this new project.

Anyway, as a foreign person living in this wonderful city, I really see future in this project. Sometimes people form Szczecin underestimate their city, and this kind of ideas can make them proud of living in this great place.